Movies & TV

BlackEnterprise.com caught up with Monique Jackson and Kita Williams from The T.O. Show to chat about their brand. The dynamic duo talked about their beauty line and women’s empowerment organization entitled Define Your Pretty, why they’re not fans of the basketball wives and how they plan to follow the Kardashian business model.

On Define Your Pretty:

Define Your Pretty was something that was our child. We felt like it was our responsibility to show girls that you can be smart, talented and creative. It doesn’t matter whether you have the latest Louboutin shoes, or the latest Hermes bag—that’s not valuable. Monique and I want girls to know that we’re a business brand. We have a long resume of credible talents and smarts that got us to where we are today because of education and dedication. We want girls to know they know what it takes to be a CEO, an entrepreneur or even to be a person that’s on the right track ’cause of their own hard work, not because of who they’re married to, dating or sleeping with.

On The Negative Portrayal of Women of Color On Reality TV:

Why is it that we have to pull hair and fight to get on the mainstream shows? But, at the end of the day we feed into the image because if we have to act a little bit more belligerent or “ghetto” then we’re going to act belligerent or ghetto and if we stop doing what they expect us to do then they’ll see women of color—people of color period—in a different way. We won’t look like animals acting up. We won’t have to be really obnoxious when the cameras are on. I think it’s unfair and if you think about the Basketball Wives they go to lunch, go to coffee shops, go to somebody’s house and talk about what they did and who didn’t show up and why she’s not talking to you. On our show we have real story content and it’s a story that unfolds over 10 weeks. Whatever is going on in our lives is not going to be resolved in one episode, it’s happening throughout. You see us doing all sorts of things but unfortunately there’s no substance there when you’re talking about who didn’t come to my bridal shower, who didn’t show up here or why you slept with my ex husband or why [are] you talking about me. That’s high school stuff! Monique and I really want to be known to change the concept and maturity of the way people see us.

On The Kardashian Business Model:

We are the brown Kardashians with substance and I don’t mean that in any way with knocking [the Kardashians], but we use them as a prototype. We have real substance with how we got to where we are because the crazy part is Terrell can be Kim Kardashian all day long because it was Terrell that allowed us to showcase who we are because I believe everyone in life has a purpose. Terrell needed us just as much as we needed him. He wouldn’t have been able to pitch a show by himself. He would have never had the time nor the resources but we also realized that the Kardashians are a multimillion-dollar brand because they took their brand and made it a business. We would love to expand the brand of Mo and Kita, so you guys can see us outside of Terrell, kind of like Kourtney and Khloe.